Tobacco cutting machine with rotating knife top



Feb. 23, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND 3,170,498

TOBACCO CUTTING MACHINE WITH ROTATING KNIFE TOP Filed Dec. 6, 1960 s sheets-sheet 1 INV ENT OR 141 FRED ScHMERMUA/D ATTORNEY) A. SCHMERMUND Feb. 23, 1965 TOBACCO CUTTING MACHINE WITH ROTATING KNIFE TOP 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

ALFRED SCHMERMUND- 1935 A. SCHMERMUND TOBACCO CUTTING MACHINE WITH ROTATING KNIFE TOP 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 6, 1960 III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/ I l I I ll III/III/I/II/IIIIIII/L VIII/I,

I I I United States Patent The invention relates to machines for cutting tobacco or similar fibrous material, such as tea.

Machines for cutting tobacco have been proposed which comprise a cutter head rotatably arranged in front of anozzle through which tobacco to be cut is fed.

It is desirable that during rotation of the cutter head the cutting edge of each cutter will progressively engage the tobacco to be cut, since if, at the beginning of a cutting action, the entire cutting edge engages the tobacco to be cut an irregular chopping action rather than an even slicing action will result.

The present invention consists of a machine for cutting tobacco or similar fibrous material comprising a rotatable head provided with one or more cutters co-operating with an end of a nozzle for feeding the material to be cut to the cutter, the axis of rotation of the cutter head being arranged at an acute angle to the plane of cutting; cutters being so formed and arranged relatively to the said axis of rotation that, on each complete revolution of the cutter head, the cutting edge moves progressively across the width of said nozzle opening.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cutting head, the cutting margin-of its cutters at the cutting edge being arranged in the shape of a cone with the cutting edge spiralling so that it generally lies-in acute angled relation to the axis of the head.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cutting head, the cutters of which are, when a plurality of cutters are provided, arranged parallel but eccentrically the cutter or cutters is provided,the axis of rotation of the grinding disc forming an acute angle with the axis of rotation of the cutter head and which angle equals the acute angle between the axis of rotation of the cutter head and the plane of cutting, so that the grinding disc in its range of contact with the cutter or cutters moves on a portion of a conical surface, the apex angle of which equals twice one of said acute angles.

To make the invention clearly understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, whichare given by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a tobacco cutting machine.

FIG. 2 is a sectional detail of the machine of FIG. 1 on a larger scale, taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentaryfront elevation partly in section of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 diagrammatically illustrates a modification of the arrangement of cutters of the machine.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 5.

3,179,498 Patented Feb. 23,1965

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FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates another modification of a cutter arrangement; and

' FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the arrangement of FIG. 7. The tobacco cutting machine of FIGS. 1 to 4' comprises a box-like frame 20 and an auxiliary frame con nected to the main frame 20 and held in position relative theretoby struts 28 and nuts 27 (see FIG. 1).

Rollers 52 are supported on the frame 20 on shafts 51 around which belts 53 are trained for feeding tobacco to be cut to a feed nozzle 19; the rollers 52 being coupled together for equal movements by a train of wheels 54 rotatable upon shafts 55. The feed nozzle 19 is mounted in a wall of the frame 20 and extends therethrough. A

cutter head in the shape of a drum is provided with curved cutters 1 and 2. The drum has a blade supporting end in the shape of'a truncated cone with the apex angle a (see FIG. 2). The drum is keyed to a shaft 10 which is inclined from the vertical relatively to the free end of the nozzle 19 by an angle which equals a/ 2. The shaft 10 is rotatably mounted at its upper end in a bearing 41 and at its lower end in an inclined roller bearing 17 (FIG. 2) supported by a seat 18. The bearings 41 and 17 are fixed to the auxiliary frame 50. Underneath the nozzle 19, which serves the purpose of'feeding caked tobacco 21 to the cutter drum, is a downwardly inclined chute 23 supported by frame 20 for removing cut tobacco.

, The drum comprises two relatively detachable seg mental parts 13 and 14 (see FIG. 4) connected together at 9. Above the parts 13 and 14, a disc 5 having 'a turned down skirt 6 is provided on the shaft 10, the periphery said grooves.

of the skirt 6 being formed by two circular arcuate portions which are eccentrically disposed relatively to each other and with respect to the axis of shaft 10 shown'in FIG. 4. The skirt 6 is provided with grooves eccentric to each other in which arcuate blade-like cutters '1 and 2 are mounted. The cutters are fixed to the disc 5 and skirt 6 by studs 29 and they abut against :the'bottoms 60'of The cutters 1 and 2 thus are adjustable bodily with the disc 5. The assembledcutters are housed within segmental parts 3, which in turn are connected to and supported by a lid 4 keyed to the shaft 10 at 9 and attached to parts 3 at 11. Rods 8 are fixed to the disc 5 and slidably extend through bushings 7 on the lid 4. The rods 8 support a grooved collar 56 siideable along the shaft 10. Means to adjust the position of the collar along shaft 10 comprise an arm 35 rigid with a member 47 which is slideable along a guide frame 46 attached to the main frame 20. The member 47 has a nut 48 as a part thereof in which is screw threaded a spindle 57. The latter is rotatably mounted on frame 50 and has an external wheel 56* The cutter head is thus adjusted along rods 8 by rotating the spindle 57. To the shaft 10 is keyed a pulley 40 which is rotated by means of a V-belt 42 trained about a pulley 43 of an electric motor 44. The motor 44 is mounted on a bracket 45 attached to the main frame 20.

For sharpening the cutters 1 and 2, a grinding device is provided, having a grinding disc 36. This device is mounted on a shaft of an electric motor 37; the position of which can be adjusted relative to the cutters 1 and 2 by supporting guide means 38 and 39 in a direction at right angles to a supporting shaft 31, the axis of which parallels the side of the cone angle, and which has a bearing at 26 on frame 50. It can also be adjusted in a direction parallel to the shaft 31 by further guide means 32 and 33. By means of a rod 30 attached at 34 to the guide 33 the grinding device can be reciprocated through I "73 and are arched eccentric to each other.

the axis of shaft 73.

In the modification of FIGS. and 6 the cutter head comprises segmental arcuate cutters 7t 71 and 72 which a are suitably connected as by a cutter head (not shown),

revolution of the shaft 73. The cutting edges form parts of aconical surface of the apex angle or (see FIG. 2). The cutting edges of the cutters lie at an Injthe embodiment of ros. 7 and s a cutter so is provided which in plan view forms a spiral or part of a spiral about a rotatable shaft 81 to which the cutter 8t) is connected as by a cutter head-(not shown), generally corresponding to the head shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. A tobacco rod to be cut. is indicated at 82. A grindingdisc I 83 is mounted on a rotatable shaft 81 the axis of which parallels the cone angle or.

angleu. Note that the cutting edge of the blade or cutter lies in ,aplane at an acute angle tothe axis of shaft 31.

It will be recognized that the blade assembly at its cutting end 12 forms a frusto-conical body of rotation having the apex cutting angle. The axis of rotationof the blade assembly is parallel to the axis of the angle on.

of shaft ltl than the trailing edge because the cutting edge slices from the top'and the distance of the blade from shaft decreases asthe blade moves downwardly across cutting machine, but mayalternatively be applied to maacute angle to ,chines for cutting similar fibrous material, for example tea. Y

What I claim is:

ljln a machine for cutting fibrousmaterial such as tobacco the combination of a'supporting frame, a rotary head mounted on a fixed axis of rotation upon said frame comprising an outer cylindrical shaped casing portion and an'inner cylindrical shaped casing portion, means to variably extend and retractthe inner casing with respect to the outer casing in'the direction of the axis of the rotary The cutting edgeforms at the locus of cutting a conical surface having the apex The cutting edge of the blade (or blades) lies in a plane atan acute angle to the axis of rotation of the cutter head with the high point of the plane located at the advancing side of a bladeor each blade so that the shearing action on the tobacco rod 21' takes place progressively from the top of the rod and then downward.

In operation the cutter head having a plurality of blades or cutters or a single spiral-shaped cutter rotates in front of. the nozzle 19 in'the direction of the inscribedarrows 1 (see FIGS. 2 and 4).

19 until the lower part of the cutting edge on further rotation clears the tobacco rod. Since the length'of the cutter when curved exceeds the heightthrough which the The cutting edge cuts with a progressive sliding or drawing movement a desired length of a rod of caked tobacco fed through the feed nozzle of hardened springy band steel. 'The minimum strength of such steelband usable for the cutter is believed to be 0.5 mm. Steel band material can easily be bent into the required shape. If the steel band is essentially thicker it is recommended to shape it on a suitable shaping ma-.

chine knownp er se to give it a-permanentdeforrnation.

It should be mentioned that the cutter can be punched out of steel band without any or very little waste. Even if v the cutters are thin, they. obtain the required rigidity by their curvature. Moreover, the cutting forces act on the cuttersmainly in the direction of the axis of rotation whereby wear of the cutters is kept within reasonable limits.

The reason it is necessary to locate the blades eccen tric'to the axis of rotation of the head will be apparent from the various views, but in particularit is shown in FIG. 2 that the feed exit opening of the nozzle 21 is located at an acute angle to the vertical. Now the leading edge of the blade is placed farther away from the axis head, a blade construction mounted betweensaid casing portions on, the inner cylindrical casing for movement therewith,.s'aid blade construction comprising an arcuate blade arrangement having a cutting edge protruding beyondsaid head and which cutting edge is tapered so that extendedrthe taper'would form a cone having a predeter mined apex angle beyond and in the same facing direction as the cutting edge, and means for feeding bunched fibrous material including a nozzle the exit plane of which lies in a side of said cone line as extended from'the cutting edge of the blade. g 2. In and for a machine for cutting'fibrous material such as tobacco, the combination comprising supporting means, a rotary head mounted on said supporting'means and rotatable about a stationary axis of rotation, means for mounting a blade on said head for rotation therewith, means for moving said blade relatively to said head in the direction of said axis of rotation, said blade being arcuate and eccentric relatively to said axis of rotation, said blade having a cutting edge vprotruding beyond said head, said cutting edge being tapered so that the taper forms part of a conical surface the apex of which lies on said axis of rotation, and means for feeding fibrous material towards said'cutting edge in a direction substantially perpendicular to said conical surface- I 3. Inand for a machine for cutting fibrous material such as tobacco, the combination comprising mounting means, at least one curved cutter carried by said mounting means, means for rotating said mounting means and therewith said cutter about an axis of rotation, said cutter being arranged eccentric to said axis of rotation and having an inner surface and an outer surface, said inner surface being parallel to said axis of rotation, a cutting edge on said cutter, said cutting edge being formed by a first marginal portion of said inner surface and a second marginal portion of said outer surface, said second marginal portion being inclined to said axis of rotation and forming a part of a conical surface having its apex on said axis of rotation, and means for. feeding fibrous material towardssaid cutting edge in a direction perpendicular angle of said conical surface.

5. The combination defined in claim 3, wherein a plurality of cutters are provided.

6. The combination defined in claim 5, wherein said cutters are cylindrically ycurved, said second, inclined, marginalportionsof the outer surfaces of all the cutters forming partrof a single conical surface having its apex on said axis of rotation.

7. The combination defined in claim 3, wherein said cutter in asection perpendicular to said axis of rotation is spirally curved about said axis of rotation.

8. A machine for cutting fibrous material such as tobacco, comprising mounting means, at least one curved cutter carried by said mounting means, means for rotating said mounting means and therewith said cutter about an axis of rotation, means for displacing said cutter in the direction of said axis of rotation, said cutter being arranged eccentric to said axis of rotation, a cutting edge on said cutter, said cutting edge being formed by a first marginal portion of an inner surface of said cutter and a second marginal portion of an outer surface of said cutter, said second marginal portion forming a part of a conical surface having its apex on said axis of rotation, means for feeding fibrous material towards said cutting edge in a direction perpendicular to said conical surface, means for sharpening said cutting edge, said sharpening means being arranged for acting on said second marginal portion, and guide means for reciprocating said sharpening means along a straight line forming an acute angle with and intersecting said axis of rotation, said acute angle equalling one half of the apex angle of said conical surface.

9. A machine as defined in claim 8, wherein a plurality of cutters are provided.

10. A machine as defined in claim 9, wherein said cutters are cylindrically curved, the inclined marginal portions of the outer surfaces of all the cutters forming part of a single conical surface having its apex on said axis of rotation.

References Cited by the-Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,032,381 7/12 Currie 146121 2,262,912 11/41 Behar 31066 2,614,596 10/52 Schreiber 146-106 XR 7 2,664,160 12/53 Speakman 83595 XR 2,829,694 4/58 Jarvis 146121 2,835,299 5/58 Pollmann 1461 19 FOREIGN PATENTS 120,677 1/31 Austria.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

CARL W. ROBINSON, LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Examiners. 

1. IN A MACHINE FOR CUTTING FIBROUS MATERIAL SUCH AS TOBACCO THE COMBINATION OF A SUPPORTING FRAME, A ROTARY HEAD MOUNTED ON A FIXED AXIS OF ROTATION UPON SAID FRAME COMPRISING AN OUTER CYLINDRICAL SHAPED CASING PORTION AND AN INNER CYLINDRICAL SHAPED CASING PORTION, MEANS TO VARIABLY EXTEND AND RETRACT THE INNER CASING WITH RESPECT TO THE OUTER CASING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE AXIS OF THE ROTARY HEAD, A BLADE CONSTRUCTION MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID CASING PORTIONS ON THE INNER CYLINDRICAL CASING FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH, SAID BLADE CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING AN ARCUATE BLADE ARRANGEMENT HAVING A CUTTING EDGE PROTRUDING BEYOND SAID HEAD AND WHICH CUTTING EDGE IS TAPERED SO THAT EXTENDED THE TAPER WOULD FORM A CONE HAVING A PREDETERMINED APEX ANGLE BEYOND AND IN THE SAME FACING DIRECTION AS THE CUTTING EDGE, AND MEANS FOR FEEDING BUNCHED FIBROUS MATERIAL INCLUDING A NOZZLE THE EXIT PLANE OF WHICH LIES IN A SIDE OF SAID CONE LINE AS EXTENDED FROM THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE BLADE. 